Knitting machine



A. GUTSCHMIT KNITTING MACHINE March 3, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 19, 1962 INVENTOR. ALA/V GUTSCHM/T FIG.. 2

FIG.

,4 7- raRuE rs March 3, 1964 A. GUTSCHMIT KNITTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fl G. 9

5HORT NEEDLES Filed March 19, 1962 LONG NEEDLES LONG NEED ES SH RT NEEDLES FIG. IO

INVENTOR. ALAN GUTSC/"lM/T 3O SHORT NEEDLES SO LONG NEEDLES 3o LONG NEEDLES .Arronwsrs United States Patent 3,122,995 IQJKT'EENG s iacnnsr. lan Gntrchmit, Lumberton, P i- C assigner to Alanine Knitting Ina, New York, FLY, a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 19, 1952, Ser. No. 13%,761 6 Claims. (Us 66-5tl) The present invention relates to knitting machines, and more particularly to circular knitting machines.

In circular knitting machines as known and used today, the knitting of patterned fabric poses a problem in utilizing such fabric for the reason that unless the number of slots provided in the pattern wheels bear a certain relationship to the number of needles inserted in the cylinder of the machine, successive patterns occur with a shift therebetween. More specifically, unless the number of needles divided by the number of slots in the pattern wheel is a whole number, a shift occurs since the pattern wheels are rotated less than a whole number of times relative to the needles.

The shift that occurs in the pattern becomes more pronounced and usually is more objectionable in utilizing the fabric for preparing articles, such as garments, and the like.

Fabric made with a pattern shift, as previously explained, is limited in its versatility and usefulness for making garments and the like, since the position of the pattern must be taken into account in cutting the fabric.

A broad object of the present invention is to provide a circular knitting machine which is free of the disadvantages inherent in knitting machines as heretofore known, and more particularly to provide a machine for knitting patterns which are not shifted either vertically or horizontally, but are in alignment in these directions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved knitting machine of the general type above referred to on which a pattern can be knitted which extends through several revolutions of the cylinder of the machine.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved knitting machine of the general type above referred to on which several patterns can be simultaneously knitted during each revolution of the cylinder, each of which patterns may extend through several revolutions.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved knitting machine or" the general type above referred to on which tl e aforementioned patterns may be knitted without areas of widened and hence loose Wale in the fabric.

The disadvantages inherent with the prior machines are thus e ninated with the machine of the invention. Patterns extending in height through several revolutions of the cylinder and horizontally aligned can be produced. Furthermore, in machines as heretofore known, the pattern must be repeated each tirne the pattern wheel completes one revolution, whereas in the machine of the in vention, the pattern may be repeated or not as desirable.

In the machi .e of the invention, long and short needles are carried in the rotatable cylinder of the machine. These needles are adaptedto be raised separately and in synchronism therebetween by slotted pattern wheels disposed in their rotating path. The slots of the pattern wheels are filled with jacks or left empty for forming a pattern. In addition, since the long and short needles knit separately, one set of needles can be made to be operative over the knitting period when the other set of needles would introduce the shift, so that the shift does not occur. Alternatively, a pattern with a shift can be produced, if desired, by selecting a combination of long and short needles.

These and other objects and advantageous features of the invention will be described in greater detail subsequently with reference to the following drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a feed station, partly in section, used in a circular knitting machine according to the invention, the station is shown acting upon a long needle;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG 1, but showing the station acting upon a short needle;

FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are simplified versions of the feed stations shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively, depicting the movement of needles and idlers of the machine during knitting;

FIG. 7 is a perspective fragmentary view of a circular knitting machine made in accordance with the invention;

PEG. 8 is a diagram of a pattern knitted on a conventional circular machine.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a pattern knitted with a machine of the invention;

1G is a fragmentary diagram of another pattern knitted with a machine of the invention;

PEG. 11 shows the pattern of FIG. 10 repeated several times on a reduced scale; and

FIG. 12 is a diagram of still another pattern knitted with a machine according to the invention.

Referring now to P165. 1 to 6, there is shown a feed station of a circular knitting machine according to the invention. The machine includes a rotatable cylinder 7dr: and conventional driving means 72 therefor not shown in detail. A plurality of equally spaced axial slots 74 are provided in the side wall of the cylinder. The cylinder is generally of conventional design, except that it may have doubly the height of a standard cylinder for reasons which will become apparent from the subsequent description. The increased width of the cylinder affords the advantage that a wider strip of fabric is knitted during each revolution of the cylinder. Long and short needles 76 and 73, respectively, and idler blanks 8G and 152, associated therewith, are inserted in slots lengthwise slidable in reference thereto. The long and short needles and the associated blanks coact with the needle stations or feeds of the machine.

Each long needle '76 is a latch-type needle having a movable latch blade 77 for covering the point of the needle hook, an intermediate stem '79, a butt 82, and a tail 83. The coacting idler blank 84 has a stem 84, and is terminated with a butt 85 near one end and a tail 86 at the other end. The blank is positioned adjacent to the long needle ?6 and lengthwise slidable in reference thereto in a slot 74 of the rotatable cylinder 79a. The needle butt $2 is engageable with the tail 86 of the idler blank St to raise the idler blank St) when the needle is raised and the needle is pulled down by the blank when the blank is pulled down as will be described hereinafter.

FIGS. 1, 3 and 4 show one of the feed stations in coaction with a long needle 76 and the associated blank t In contrast to the conventional ring of single pattern wheels about the cylinder, pairs of superimposed pattern wheels $3 and 9% are associated with each feed station. Each lower pattern wheel t is rotatably secured to a sta tionary mounting lock 92 by a nut 93 and the block is secured in turn to a cam retaining ring 4. A raising cam 9-5 is secured by screws to an inner surface of the cam retaining ring 94 intermediate the mounting block $2 and the outer surface of the cylinder 7%. A blank return cam 92% is secured to the inner surface of the mounting block adjacent to the outer surface of the cylinder 7 (la and spaced apart from the raising cam 96. A spring loaded adiustrnent screw tee is threaded in an opening in the mounting block 92 and coacts with conventional means (not shown) connected to the blank return cam 98 for raising and lowering the stitch cam relative to the raising cam 96.

As can be seen in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the pattern wheel 9%? is in the rotary path of butt 82 of the needle and that pattern wheel 83 is in the rotary path of butt 35 of the blank 8% associated with the needle. 7

In operation, the long needle butt $22 will ride up on the inclined surface of the raising cam 96 during rotation of the cylinder and engage one of the slots 16 2 of the pattern wheel 98. The pattern wheel is mounted at an angle to facilitate engagement with the needle butt $2. The slots of the lower pattern wheel may include high or low jacks 134 or be empty for controlling the height to which each long needle 76 (is to be raised during knitting in accordance with the pattern to the knitted by tne long needles. The blank return cam 93 is positioned in the rotating path of the long needle butts 32. to drive each needle down after it has been raised by the raising cam do and by the jack in the pattern wheel 9%).

The upper pattern wheel 38 of each pair is supported by a mounting block 1% which rests upon a mounting plate ltl fi, supported by screw bolts 1&7 received in openings in the mounting plate and in the cam retaining ring 94. A stitch cam 11% is secured to the inner surface of the upper mounting block res, and a spring loaded screw 112 is provided for adjusting the position of the stitch V cam 110 relative to at raising cam 114 secure-d to mounting plate 106.

Selected slots of the upper pattern wheel 88 are also filled with high or low jacks 116 or left empty, in correlation with the slots inserted in the lower pattern wheel 90. Wheel 5% is driven by the butt 85 of each idler blank 80 unless butt 85 is raised out of its position-of coaction with the pattern Wheel by the upward movement of the long needle 76, butt 82 of the long needle being in engagement with the tail 36 of the idler blank. Pattern wheel 33 is rotatably secured to the mounting block 198 by a nut 115, and is positioned at an angle such that the butt 85 of the idler blank 86 rides up in the slots of the pattern wheel due to the horizontally inclined surface of the upper blank raising cam 114-.

A circular sinker dial 1% is secured to the top end of the rotatable cylinder 7% and a plurality of horizontal slots 121 are provided on the upper surface thereof for each of a plurality of sinkers 123. A sinker cam ring 125 having a plurality of corresponding slots is secured at the bottom thereof to the sinker dial 129. A sinker cam 126 is secured interiorly in the sinker cam ring 125 and the cam is adapted to ride in a U-shaped cam sur face 127 in each of the plurality of sinkers 123 Wldch are positioned in the corresponding slots of the sinker cam ring 125 and the sinker dial 129. A sinker rest ring 129, having corresponding horizontal slots is secured to the top of the rotatable cylinder 70a and the head 124 of the sinker 123 is receivable in the slots when the sinkers are driven forward and transverse to the needles 76 by the sinker cam 126. Thus, as the cylinder 70a is rotated the sinkers 123 are driven transversely of the rotating and reciprocating needles, and between adjacent ones thereof, depending on the preselected configuration of the sinker cam. Consequently, the sinker cam is preselected to coordinate the transverse movement of the sinkers with the rotational and reciprocating movement of the needles.

A yarn carrier assembly 139 including a bracket 131 and a yarn carrier 132 are secured to the carrier ring 154 for feeding yarn from a source thereof to be engaged by needles driven to the knit and tuck positions by the pattern Wheels during the knitting operation.

Turning now to FIGS. 2, 5 and 6, these figures show the same feed station as FIGS. 1, 3 and 4 coacting with a short needle 78 and they also show an idler blank 152.

In contrast to blank 8%, idler blank 152 does not coact 'with the short needle, it merely serves to rotate pattern accommodate the two rings of pattern Wheels.

protrudes from the end of the stern 155. The butt rides up on the upper raising cam 114 and engages a slot in the upper pa tern wheel 8i: when the cylinder is rotated. The butt 154 is driven down by the stitch cam 11% disposed in its path so that it is'raised again when the raising cam 1 4 of t e next following station is encountered.

The lower idler blank 152 has a butt 157 engageable with the raising cam 96 to ride up on the surface thereof to engage a slot in the pattern wheel 94 before being pushed down by the blank return earn 98.

Since the lower idler blank 152 does not engage the tail 153 of the short needle, the position of the short needle '73 is determined solely by the raising cam 114-, the upper pattern wheel 88, and the stitch cam 11%; and butt 154%- of the short needle'iS does not control the rotation of the lower pattern wheel t as does the idler blank butt $2 of the long needle 76.

The function of blanks 3t and 152 can best be understood from simplified FIGS. 3 to 6.

As appears from the previous description, the pattern knitted during each revolution of the cylinder of the machine is determined by the pattern wheels associated with the cylinder, and more specifically by the jacks inserted in the slots of the pattern wheels. As is further apparent from the previous description, the pattern wheels as such are not driven, but are rotated by engagement of the butts of the needles with the slots of the pattern wheels as the needles pass the feed stations which include the pattern wheels, However, since a machine of the invention employs short and long needles and provides two superimposed pattern wheels in each station, the upper pattern Wheel will not be driven when a long needle passes a feed station and the lower pattern wheel will not be driven when a short needle passes a feed station. As a result, the angular positions of the Wheels of each pair will become different, thereby obviously upsetting the knitting of the pattern.

It is the purpose of the blanks to maintain the rotation of each pair of pattern wheels in synchronisrn.

As is shown in FIG. 6, buttt 82 of needle 76 is in en gagement with pattern Wheel and butt 85 of blank 89 is in engagement with pattern wheel 88. Hence both wheels are driven by the needle 76 coaching with the station.

,Similarly, butt 157 of blank 152 causes rotation of pattern wheel 99 simultaneously with the rotation of pattern Wheel 88 by needle Blank 152 simply moves up and down in'its slot in cylinder 7th: as is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

Since needle '76 is driven down from the raised position of FIG. 4 by the upper idler blank 80, the depth to which all the needles are driven down is controlled by a single stitch cam 11% per feed station. This afiords the advantage of a simplified and accurate setting of the depth of the needles.

As is evident, the two types of needles operate alternately in each station. As a result, two difierent pat terns may be knitting during each revolution of the cylinder, one by the lon needles and the other by the short eedles. The specific configuration of each pattern can be freely selected by the distribution of the long and short needles about the circumference of the cylinder of the machine.

A knitting machine according to the invention, as is shown in part in FIG. 7, should be visualized as being conventional, except for the specific components of the invention hereinbefore described and except that the cylinder "itla has double the height of a standard cylinder to The increased height of the cylinder affords the advantage that a wider strip of fabric is knitted during each revolution of the cylinder.

FIGS. 9 to 12 show exemplifications of patterns that can be knitted with a machine according to the invention,

but could not be knitted with a conventional knitting machine.

The vertically aligned diamond pattern shown in FIG. 9 and identified by number I is knitted on a machine in accordance with the invention [having 1530 needles, thirty of which are long needles, the remainder being short needles, and 36 feeds made up of a corresponding number of pairs of upper and lower pattern wheels. The pattern wheels of each station have 120 slots which are filled with high or low jacks, or are left empty to knit each diamond over four revolutions of the rotatable cylinder 79a. Accordingly, the short needles knit the fabric without visible pattern until the thirty long needles reach the feed stations whereupon the respective lower pattern wheels raise the long needles to the knit position to form the first portion of the diamond during the first revolution of the cylinder.

During the subsequent three revolutions, the short needles are again raised to knit before and after the long needles knit the second, third and fourth portions of the diamond. The result is a pattern which extends through several revolutions of the cylinder without the aforedescribed shift in the pattern.

FIG. 10 shows a knitting pattern which is obtained by inserting in cylinder 74%: of the machine, thirty short needles, followed by 90 long needles, again followed by thirty short needles and followed by 1380 long needles. The pattern is shown for eight revolutions of the cylinder. As is apparent, the two sets of needles knit different repeat patterns during each revolution of the cylinder. Such knitting of different patterns without shift is not possible on knitting machines as heretofore known.

FIG. 11 shows a larger piece of the fabric of FIG. 10 on a reduced scale to illustrate more clearly the manner in which the pattern is repeated during each revolution of the cylinder.

FIG. 12 shows still another repeat pattern which can be knitted with the machine according to the invention. There is shown in the figure in alternate disposition, a cat and a ball. Referring first to the left hand fabric section, the thirty long needles knit during the first revolution the lower half of the cat and the thirty short needles knit the upper half of the ball, but the pattern knitted by the short needles is on the reverse side of the fabric and hence not visible on the front side. During the second revolution, the thirty long needles knit visibly the upper half of the cat and the thirty short needles knit invisibly the lower half of the ball. In the mid-section of the fabric, the lower half of the ball is visibly knitted by the thirty short needles and the upper half of the cat is knitted invisibly by the thirty long needles. During the second revolution, the upper half of the ball is knitted visibly by the thirty short needles and the lower half of the cat is knitted invisibly by the thirty long needles, etc. As is apparent, due to the provision a set of long needles and a set of short needles and the control of both sets of needles in accordance with the invention, the two parts of a pattern extending through two revolutions are correctly composed. As is further apparent, if there would be only one set of needles, as is conventional, the needles would visibly knit in the left hand section during the first revolution the lower half of the cat and during the second revolution the lower half of the ball. In other words, it would not be possible to compose a pattern as shown in FIG. 12 in a correct manner with one set of needles only.

While the invention has been described in detail with respect to a certain now preferred example and embodiment of the invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art, after understanding the invention, that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and it is intended therefore to cover all such changes and modifications in the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a circular knitting machine, a rotary cylinder having in its peripheral wall circumferentially spaced axial slots, at least one pair of pattern wheels having axially extending peripheral slots, said pattern wheels being mounted one above the other, freely rotatable adjacent to the peripheral wall of the cylinder, a plurality of short stemmed knitting needles fitted lengthwise slidable in selects slots of the cylinder, a plurality of long stemmed knitting neeedles fitted lengthwise slidable in other selected slots of the cylinder, each of said short needles having a butt radially protruding from a respective slot of the cylinder and engageable with a slot of the upper pattern wheel for rotating the latter in response to a rotation of the cylinder and each of said long needles having a butt radially protruding from a respective slot of the cylinder and engageable with a slot of the lower pattern wheel for rotating the latter in response to a rotation of the cylinder, a first driving member inserted in each cylinder slot accommodating a short needle and engageable with a slot of the upper pattern wheel for rotating the latter through the same angle as the lower pattern wheel is rotated by the butt of the respective long needle whereby both pattern wheels are rotated in synchronism by the rotation of the cylinder.

2. A knitting machine according to claim 1 wherein jacks are fitted in selected slots of the upper and lower pattern wheel, sair jacks coacting with said needle butts to eifect activation of the short and long needles in a preselected sequential order.

3. In a circular knitting machine, a rotary cylinder having in its peripheral wall circumferentially spaced axial slots, at least one pair of pattern wheels having axially extending peripheral slots, said pattern wheels being mounted one above the other, freely rotatable adjacent to the peripheral wall of the cylinder, a plurality of short stemmed knitting needles fitted lengthwise slidable in selects slots of the cylinder, a plurality of long stemmed knitting needles fitted lengthwise sl-idable in other selected slots of the cyhnder, each of said short needles having a butt radially protruding from a respective slot of the cylinder and engageable with a slot of the upper pattern wheel for rotating the latter in response to a rotation of the cylinder and each of said long needles having a butt radially protruding from the respective slot of the cylinder and engage able with a slot of the lower pattern wheel for rotating the latter in response to a rotation of the cylinder, a first idler fitted lengthwise slidable in each cylinder slot also accommodating a short needle, each of said first idlers having a butt radially protruding from the respective cylinder slot and engageable with a slot of the lower pattern wheel for rotating the latter through the same angle as the upper pattern wheel is rotated by the butt of the respective short needle, a second idler fitted lengthwise slidable in each cylinder slot also accommodating a long needle, each of said second idlers having a butt radially protruding from the respective cylinder slot and engageable with a slot of the upper pattern wheel for rotating the latter through the same angle as the lower pattern wheel is rotated by the butt of the respective long needle whereby both pattern wheels are rotated in synchronisrn by the rotation of the cylinder, and jacks fitted in selected slots of the upper and lower pattern wheels, said jacks coacting with said needle butts to effect raising of the needles from an inactive position to an active position.

4. A knitting machine according to claim 3 wherein each of said short needles occupies a portion of a cylinder slot adjacent to the upper pattern wheel while leaving vacant the slot part adjacent to the lower pattern wheel in any lengthwise position of the short needle, and each of said first idlers comprises an elongated member having thereon the respective idler butt and placed freely length wise slidable in said vacant portion of the respective slot, and wherein each of said long needles occupies substantially the entire length of the respective cylinder slots and each of said second idlers comprises a second elongated member having thereon the respective idler butt and placed in a cylinder slot accommodating a long needle alongside thereof and legnthwise slidable in reference thereto, the lower end of said second elongated member being engageable with the butt of the respective long needle to efiect joint raising of the second elongated member and the long needle when the latter is raised by coaction between the butt of the long needle and a jack in the lower pattern wheel.

5. A knitting machine according to claim 4 and further comprising a stitch cam coacting with the upper pattern wheel and engageable with the butt of each short needle and the butt of each second elongated member, engagement with the stitch cam and the butt of the short needle returning the same into its inactive position in the respective cylinder slot and engagement of the stitch cam with the butt of the second elongated member guiding the latter downwardly in the respective cylinder slot, said downward movement of the second elongated member causing engagement thereof with the butt of the long References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,030,815 Feinernan Feb. 11, 1936 2,127,224 Lombardi Aug. 16, 1938 3,075,372 Philip Jan. 29, 1963 FOREIGN PATENTS 272,307 Great Britain J an. 15, 1927 any m 

1. IN A CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE, A ROTARY CYLINDER HAVING IN ITS PERIPHERAL WALL CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED AXIAL SLOTS, AT LEAST ONE PAIR OF PATTERN WHEELS HAVING AXIALLY EXTENDING PERIPHERAL SLOTS, SAID PATTERN WHEELS BEING MOUNTED ONE ABOVE THE OTHER, FREELY ROTATABLE ADJACENT TO THE PERIPHERAL WALL OF THE CYLINDER, A PLURALITY OF SHORT STEMMED KNITTING NEEDLES FITTED LENGTHWISE SLIDABLE IN SELECTS SLOTS OF THE CYLINDER, A PLURALITY OF LONG STEMMED KNITTING NEEDLES FITTED LENGTHWISE SLIDABLE IN OTHER SELECTED SLOTS OF THE CYLINDER, EACH OF SAID SHORT NEEDLES HAVING A BUTT RADIALLY PROTRUDING FROM A RESPECTIVE SLOT OF THE CYLINDER AND ENGAGEABLE WITH A SLOT OF THE UPPER PATTERN WHEEL FOR ROTATING THE LATTER IN RESPONSE TO A ROTATION OF THE CYLINDER AND EACH OF SAID LONG NEEDLES HAVING A BUTT RADIALLY PROTRUDING FROM A RESPECTIVE SLOT OF THE CYLINDER AND ENGAGEABLE WITH A SLOT OF THE LOWER PATTERN WHEEL FOR ROTATING THE LATTER IN RESPONSE TO A ROTATION OF THE CYLINDER, A FIRST DRIVING MEMBER INSERTED IN EACH CYLINDER SLOT ACCOMMODATING A SHORT NEEDLE AND ENGAGEABLE WITH A SLOT OF THE UPPER PATTERN WHEEL FOR ROTATING THE LATTER THROUGH THE SAME ANGLE AS THE LOWER PATTERN WHEEL IS ROTATED BY THE BUTT OF THE RESPECTIVE LONG NEEDLE WHEREBY BOTH PATTERN WHEELS ARE ROTATED IN SYNCHRONISM BY THE ROTATION OF THE CYLINDER. 